And If You Wrong Us
by girlpandagreenlime
Summary: For years, Bart has been suffering from the aftermath of Sideshow Bob's murder attempts. So when Lisa discovers that he's escaped from prison yet again, she's determined to ensure that he doesn't come near her brother again, no matter what. But when she gets to New York and meets Josie, a runaway with connections to the maniac, complications arise that interfere with Lisa's plans.


**Hi guys! My name is girlpandagreenlime, and this is my first Simpsons fanfic! Admittedly, I don't know a lot about the show, this year being my first real exposure to it. But the first episode I watched had Sideshow Bob in it, and the minute I heard his voice, I was hooked. He is undoubtedly my favorite character, and I just had to write something for this show. So after a little bit of thinking, I got an idea, and here it is! I'll try to update, but I can't guarantee speed because I am very busy. But I hope you enjoy this first chapter! Like I said, I don't know a lot about the Simpsons, so if you have any tips or comments for this story, please leave me a review! I aim to please, and I won't know if I'm doing that unless I hear from you guys!**

**Anyway, that's enough rambling. Remember, I don't own the Simpsons, and now, here is the first chapter of 'And If You Wrong Us." Enjoy!**

After performing the sad ritual for close to eight years she knew it would be safe to set down her saxophone as soon as her brother's whimpers turned to the soft breaths associated with sleep. But as she continued to play, she felt the familiar sensation of tears running down her purple-bagged eyes as she wished that it didn't have to be necessary at all.

The darkness of the night could be felt as a thick intangible cloud of pressure. Weighing down the world, it seemed as though even music notes could not gather the strength to throw off the load and fly high into the sky. Instead they loomed over the heads of the musician and her audience. Had anybody else been present, they would have insisted the sole audience member couldn't hear the mournful tones. But the musician knew otherwise, because very soon after she had begun to play, the screaming had stopped.

When her eyes dared to stray from her brother's sleeping form, the fluorescent red numbers on the clock were glaring 3:20 at her menacingly. There was still at least four hours before she had to get ready for school. Surely that was enough time for some sleep of her own. But first she'd wait to ensure her brother wouldn't have any more nightmares.

She was still staring at the clock, waiting for it to change from one minute to the next, when the sound of a handle being slowly turned caught her attention. Turning, she saw another familiar face peeking in, this one younger than her own, but tainted by the same worry they shared. Her concern was confirmed by the first words spoken between the two. "How is he Lisa?"

"He just started sleeping peacefully," Even though the person they were talking about was too deep in sleep to hear anything, Lisa still couldn't bring herself to raise her voice higher than a whisper. She then issued her own burning question. "Are Mom and Dad awake?"

Her little sister nodded once and Lisa watched as she opened her mouth as if to speak again. There was a moment of visible hesitation, but she slowly gathered up the courage to mumble to the floor, "Mom's crying again."

Though not a new or unheard announcement, it still left Lisa's stomach churning a little harder. It was no mystery her brother's condition, though not contagious, was taking its toll on the entire family. And the worst part about it was in the morning, her brother would have no idea about any of it.

There was no point thinking about that right now. If Lisa did, she would simply start thinking about facts that she'd told herself a million times already. But it was too late to make them go away. "Guess I'm not getting any sleep tonight," she thought to herself. But there was no reason why her little sister shouldn't. "I think he'll be okay for the rest of the night. You should go back to bed Maggie."

"Any hope of sleep I had is suddenly gone. Do you want to take a walk?"

It was funny how easily Maggie could know how Lisa was feeling without even being told. At one point Lisa might have scoffed at the idea of siblings having psychic connections, but now she couldn't. Maggie always knew the right remedies to help Lisa, just like Lisa helped Bart every night.

After slipping out the window and down the tree beside it to the ground, the two started off. They had no plans on where to go, they just both needed to get out of the haunted house their home had become. It wasn't haunted by ghosts or demons that could easily be removed. It was haunted by Bart's dark memories and the fears that had built up from them. And all because of one man. Once the children had shouted his name with joy, but now they screamed it in sheer terror. And when they weren't screaming it, they were trying not to say it at all out of pure hatred.

"I just wish there was something we could do."

That was what everybody in the Simpsons family was wishing for Bart, but Lisa had never heard her little sister say it out loud before. It made the situation all the more real, and at the same time, made her feel all the more helpless.

"I've scoured every textbook and source I can get my hands on, and Bart's been on every medication the doctors can think to prescribe. He probably thinks we're trying to turn him into an addict! I don't dare suggest hypnotism. The only other suggestion is telling Bart there's absolutely no way that man can ever get near him again. But knowing his history of being released, I can't bear to get Bart's hopes up. And if Bart knows about his dreams, he'll feel bad that it's been so hard on us. And I don't want him to feel bad about something he can't control."

Lisa didn't even realize she'd been speaking out loud until Maggie stopped and reached up to wipe away her blooming tears. As her fingers streaked their way across Lisa's face, she asked, "Well isn't there some way we can ensure that he never gets released again?"

Lisa hadn't even considered something like that, but once it was suggested, she felt foolish for not considering it earlier. "I know that not all of the countries and states allow life sentences, but it's worth a shot. I doubt our mediocre justice system knows anything about it, but let's go to the police station and inquire."

Though the trek to the station was long, Lisa remembered very little about it afterward. Her thoughts were consumed by the small glimmer of hope that was daring to resurge in her. After so many nights of feeling like Bart's suffering was inevitable, here was an idea that it was a lie.

The officer at the desk recognized the two girls right away. "Maggie, Lisa. What are you doing here so late? Do your parents know you're here? How's your brother doing?"

The reminder that Bart was the only one unaware of his sufferings was enough to make Lisa's words come out cold. "We didn't come to chit-chat. We need to speak to Chief Wiggum."

"Oh sorry, he's on his coffee break right now girls. He'll be back in half an hour-"

"No. We need to see him NOW. It's urgent."

Lisa was normally very respective of all authority figures, no matter how incompetent, so her daring interruption was enough to tell the officer their business was serious. Without saying another word, he turned and disappeared through a door marked STAFF MEMBERS ONLY. He was quickly replaced by the obese, childish, donut-munching chief. Before he could even get a confused greeting out, Lisa was speaking again.

"Chief, we'd like to find out if it's possible to change a prisoner's sentence into a life sentence."

The Chief choked on his mouthful of food, and it took a few minutes of hacking and wet crumbs spraying from his lips for him to let out a guttural, "Guh?"

"Sir, you know about our brother's history with… Sideshow Bob. And because of it, he's been suffering from extreme night terrors. Nothing our family has tried has gotten rid of them. He isn't even aware that he's been having them, and we'd prefer to keep it that way. But if Bob is put under a life sentence, then we can talk to Bart about him and assure him there's nothing to fear."

After finishing her explanation, Lisa watched the man's face for a reaction. What she got surprised her. The Chief coughed again, though not as hard this time. His face paled to a lighter shade of yellow, and his eyes turned to the desktop, where his fingers had started drumming. If Lisa hadn't known better, she would have thought _he_ was the guilty convict they were talking about.

Finally he started to speak. "Well, that would be a good idea." Then his voice dropped.

"If he were still imprisoned."

"Excuse me?" Maggie piped up, sticking a finger in one of her ears as if to say she hadn't heard correctly. "He is imprisoned. Has been ever since you guys found his body in the river after the GMO incident."

Lisa's eyes burned at the mention of that day. She'd sworn the night of the incident that she would forget all about it, but it was impossible to forget about someone when they pretended to like you to gain your trust and then performed the ultimate act of betrayal by trying to kill you. But now was not the time to think about herself. Now she was here for Bart. Turning all of her attention back to the Chief, who was still not looking at them, she spoke up again. "You're not telling us something."

"Well…" Folding his hands together to stop the tapping, Chief Wiggum took a deep breath and forced his head to lift. His eyes, however, still refused to meet Maggie's or Lisa's, instead darting to different corners of the station when he finally spoke again. "Sideshow Bob escaped a month ago."

Maggie gasped, her hands flying up to her mouth, and her eyes wide. No doubt the hairs on the back of her neck were standing on edge, and her spine was chilled as if from an Arctic breeze. But Lisa did not feel these things, even though she knew she should have. Instead, her blood was beginning to boil, and she could feel her face reddening, and not from embarrassment.

"Let me get this straight," she managed to spit out through her now-gritted teeth. "Robert Underdunk Terwilliger, also known as Sideshow Bob, my brother's sworn arch-enemy, who has committed more crimes than I can count on one hand, including, but not limited to, trying to kill my brother and the other members of my family, has been running around free from jail without permission for an entire god-damn _month_, and you weren't going to _TELL US_?"

"Well, we didn't want to worry you!" protested the Chief, eyes wide in defense. Then his voice and his eyes dropped again to the floor. "But now that you've put it that way, you make it seem like a big deal."

"IT _IS_ A BIG DEAL!" Lisa screamed, throwing her hands in the air. The sudden urge to grab the Chief by the front of his shirt and shake him or slap him across the face was strong inside her, but she let it all out by slamming her hands down on the desktop. She was so infuriated she didn't even feel her palms sting. "He's a homicidal maniac! He's probably plotting to kill Bart AS WE SPEAK! Where did he go?"

"We don't know. He was here one night, and gone the next day. My guys don't even know where to start searching."

"Well did you check the city's security cameras?"

The Chief's timidly squeaked response was enough to make both girls slam their hands down, Lisa's on the desktop again with an added shouted profanity, and Maggie's on her face.

"We have security cameras?"

After several minutes of searching and finding the security room, another few minutes of dial twisting and keyboard typing, Lisa had the monitors turned on and was watching for signs of the man with the bushy hair that looked like fronds on a palm tree. Eventually there was a hit: on the night of Bob's escape, he had hitched a ride on a public bus headed to New York. There were no signs of him in Springfield after that.

"Well, there's nothing you can do now," Lisa grumbled, frost easily detected in her tone. "He's under the New York jurisdiction, if that's even where he stayed. You should be thankful I'm not going to ask my parents to sue you. We couldn't afford a lawyer even before we started paying billions of dollars in Bart's medical bills."

"Listen Lisa, I'm really sorry." The guilt in Chief Wiggum's voice was sincere, but Lisa was too disgusted to feel bad for the way she was treating him, especially when she wanted to do so much worse. So her only response was the slam of the security room door, and the door of the police station as she and Maggie left to go home.

The walk back home was silent as the brains of both girls processed all the new information they had obtained. Bob was free. And though he wasn't in Springfield now, he could come back. Bart was in danger again. He was already doing so poorly. Lisa couldn't bear to think what another murder attempt would do to him.

And then it hit her as she was sitting on the bed in her bedroom. There was another way to ensure Bob wouldn't try to hurt her brother again. Something so completely crazy that her brain hadn't even suggested it until now, when she was so desperate to protect Bart.

"Hey, Lisa?"

Snapped out of her reverie, Lisa looked up to see Maggie still standing in front of her, staring intently. "Are you okay?"

No, she wasn't okay. But with a plan slowly forming in her mind for how to protect the brother she loved so much, things were looking up. There was just one thing she had to know.

"Do you still have the gun you used to shoot Mr. Burns?"

**Please read and review!**


End file.
